Portable electronic devices, such as mobile telephones, MP3 players, notebooks, and the like, have become increasingly popular due to their relatively small size. In recent years, the portable electronic devices have become increasingly smaller in response to consumer's desire for smaller form factor. The reduction in size of the portable electronic devices is achieved partly by integrating System-in-Package (SiP). As discussed herein, a SiP refers to a plurality of integrated circuits, such as dies and package parts, assembled within a single package.
To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 shows a simple schematic of a plurality of integrated circuits within a single SiP package 100. SiP 100 may include different types of dies, including, for example, a Bluetooth die 102, a Wi-Fi die 104, and two EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) dies 106 and 108. SiP 100 may also include different types of package parts, for example, baluns 110 and 112, a crystal 114, a BPF (band-pass filter) 116 and 118, and a switch 120. Since the signal transmitted by Wi-Fi die 104 may require amplification, a power amplifier 122 may also be attached to Wi-Fi die 104. In this example, power amplifier 122 is also a package part.
Those skilled in the arts are aware that dies are physically smaller than package parts. Also, dies are stackable; therefore, in comparison to package parts, more dies may be assembled within the same physical area In addition, dies are relatively cheaper than package parts since dies require less fabrication steps than package parts. However, dies tend to be less reliable than package parts since dies, generally, may not be fully tested. Although package parts are more reliable than dies, manufacturers may opt for a combination of dies and package parts in order to achieve the smaller form factor. In addition, since price is an important factor in the highly competitive consumer market, manufacturers may manage cost by utilizing less expensive components, such as dies. Thus, a typical SiP may have a combination of dies and package parts. Accordingly, the possibility of a “bad” die being encapsulated within a SiP is a possibility. As a result, the inclusion of ‘bad” dies within a SiP may cause the SiP to experience a low performance yield and/or even cause the SiP to malfunction, thereby causing the portable electronic device to be defective.
One way to ensure that a SiP is working properly before installing the SiP into a portable electronic device is to test the SiP. Given that dies tend to be unreliable, testing a SiP usually focuses on testing the dies. Since the dies are encapsulated within the SiP, manufacturers of SiPs may need to provide a testing arrangement that enable die testing without damaging the SiP and/or the electronic components. A typical testing arrangement may include adding a plethora of pins that may extend outward from the dies and is physically visible from outside of the SiP “capsule”, thereby enabling external testing mechanism to be attached to the testing arrangement. The types of pins that may be added may include, but are not limited to, probing pins, input pins, output pins, control pins, and the like. Unfortunately, the testing arrangement may cause the overall area size of the SiP to increase. In some circumstances, the overall area size of the SiP may increase by 50 percent due to the additional pins provided to facilitate testing of the dies within the SiP. Thus, with a testing arrangement, the possible small form factor that a SiP may provide is not maximized.
In addition, testing an electronic component, such as a die, within a “system” usually requires complex and sophisticated test factors. Since the die is part of a complex, interconnected system, the test factors may take into account not only the “test” die, but may also account for relationship between the “test” die and the other electronic components (e.g., dies, package parts, etc.) within the SiP. To adequately perform the test, external control mechanism and external test mechanism may be employed in order to assure that the individual dies are in “working order” and that the SiP, as a whole, is at maximum yield capacity.